Why Do Vampires Drink Blood?

Being mythical creatures, and very popular ones at that, there are a lot of interpretations of vampires, what they do and how they act, what they want and of course, what they need. Vampires appear in all sorts of fiction, mythologies, legends, cultures, and yes, believe it or not, non-fiction. Thus each author’s interpretation makes its way into each of the stories and the details of a vampire become clouded. Certain characteristics always stay the same, however, and this is what forms the general idea of what is a vampire. One of the most characteristic features of vampires is that they drink blood ‚ they do vary in the type of blood, of course, some drinking any sort of blood except human because they dislike the idea of it, and some drinking nothing but human blood ‚ but they all drink it.

The main accepted reason as to why they drink blood is quite simple ‚ they need to in order to survive. Of course, why they need is varies. Some people believe that it is a punishment from God or another omnipotent being or meta-being, because they accepted long life from Satan, Lucifer, or the Devil, or the counter-omnipotent being. Because they exist in many cultures, it is difficult to classify which religion they are a part of or not a part of ‚ but in essence, the blood-drinking is a punishment, to suck the life-force (blood) out of a living being, killing them to survive.

Another popularly held theory is that because vampires have no blood themselves (often the reason that vampires are cold to the touch) and thus need to drink blood in order to replenish the supply of oxygen to their muscles. This is a much more scientific explanation, and as with many other mythological creatures (or not so mythological?) a scientific explanation can add credibility, but it can also take it away. Unfortunately, our body cannot digest blood ‚ we cannot simply absorb blood by drinking it, so this would not really help a vampire (of course, their bodies are different than ours, but,¦) and also, bodies and muscles need constant supply, and vampires aren’t known for breathing in blood like air, but rather drinking it. In normal physiological properties, this can’t be why vampires need blood.

I choose to think of blood for vampires as a water source for us ‚ they cannot survive without it, but they do not need it constantly. It is a source of life for them, as water is for us. It also would provide nourishment for them, as food does for us, but as food is less important to us than water, this would be more of a secondary feature.

2 Submissions

Vampires no matter what always have blood in their bodies, but then again some explode & some ash. Regardless until they are staked they have blood in them it just doesn’t flow through them.

Also the answer for why they need blood is that Vampire blood kills hemoglobin (the red blood cells) and therefore to get oxygen (which as you know they can’t breath that or blood but) by drinking blood they get the little oxygen they need (for faking out humans) to breathe also spreading other nutrients they need through their system.

(I don’t have this up on my page yet (that I noted) but as soon as I can it will be. I have much more information to include and if you want to use that on this page as part of an ecplanation I would appreciate a Credit -link back to my page)

I hope this helps better as no offense but i had to laugh a bit at some of the answer. Especially the part about being evil & from satan. If you read my page You will see the first vampire was created by Apollo, (however if you are christian or a vampire yourself.. Kane or Cain is considered to be the ‘Vampire God’

I’ve ‘been’ a ‘vampire’ since i was young (don’t laugh) because for those so call vampires even wannabes that exist… I could get into alot of trouble with my clan for this.